Densification of expanded graphite Original Research Article

A brief theoretical investigation of the behavior of exfoliated graphite (EG) undergoing compaction is presented. Simple arguments and assumptions allow one to calculate the density of the initial individual worm-like particles of EG for any final porosity of the resultant consolidated blocks. These results as well as excluded volume considerations are used to derive the mean disorientation angle of the graphite sheets within the blocks of compressed EG. X-ray experiments were performed on such autoconsolidated samples. The overall mosaic spreads thus obtained are shown to be in a very good agreement with the model developed in this paper.